North America
Longstanding Indonesian customer PT Palindo Marine continues its relationship with Volvo Penta, fitting the Swedish company’s D16 MH engines in its two most recent 180 and 220 capacity passenger ferries.
Volvo Penta maintains its longstanding relationship with PT Palindo Marine, one of the biggest ferry operators in Riau Islands, Indonesia, after it secured the sale of five D16MH marine propulsion engines to power two PT Palindo Marine ferries last year – Oceanna 12 and Oceanna 15.
PT Palindo has been a loyal Volvo Penta customer since 2003. And with the addition of the D16 MH engines, with a rated horsepower of 750hp, the operator now boasts more than 60 Volvo Penta engines across 22 aluminium ferries.
Mr Harmanto, the owner of PT Palindo Marine, says: “We have been using Volvo Penta products for many years to install on most of our ferries here in Batam, Indonesia. The reason being is because of the robustness of the engines such as the D16 MH 750HP, which have excellent reliability and a long service life.
“Moreover, D16 MH has helped to improve on the fuel consumption up to 20 per cent, which leads to a reduction of our cost of operation. In terms of maintenance and service, the D16 MH is certainly easy to handle and most importantly the aftermarket support given by Volvo Penta has never disappointed us during all these years.”
Oceanna 12 is a 28-meter ferry, weighing 35 tons, with a capacity of up to 180 passengers. This ferry has been fitted with a twin engine installation. Oceanna 15, meanwhile, is a slightly larger boat, at 35-meters, weighing 40 tons and holding up to 220 passengers. To compensate for the greater demands of this larger vessel, this ferry was fitted with a triple engine installation.
The two ferries were delivered between September 2015 and March 2016, and are being used to transport passengers between a cluster of beautiful Indonesian islands that include Batam Island, Tanjung Pinang Island, Dabuk in Sumatra and Tanjung Balai Island.
Operating at a modest engine speed of just 1,700rpm, the ferries cruise at a brisk speed of between 26 to 29 knots, with the engines providing confident power to help navigate through often changeable sea conditions, dependent on the route taken and the season.
Oceanna 12 has now been in operation for almost a year and Oceanna 15 for seven months. Both of the ferries are running well, providing trusted transport for the growing tourism industry, with the Volvo Penta engines living up to expectations.
Volvo Penta will be at stand 18 at the Interferry Conference in Manila from October 15-19.